


On Thin Ice

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 06:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: Well,” Sonny hedged, “seeing as how it’s one of our rare joint days off, and seeing as how it’s December, I was thinking we could do something festive.”“Festive,” Rafael repeated dryly. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this?”Sonny ignored him. “I was thinking we could go ice skating,” he said brightly.Rafael blinked. “You can’t be serious,” he said mildly.





	On Thin Ice

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this last year as my SVU Secret Santa gift for [tumblr user ohbelieveyoume](http://ohbelieveyoume.tumblr.com/). I also wrote it as Barba x Reader because that seemed to be their preferred SVU ship.
> 
> Seeing as how I don't write that (or really any character x Reader), I wrote this fic as Barisi and then just swapped in second person pronouns for Sonny.
> 
> And seeing as how I haven't had time to write an actual Barisi Christmas fic, I figured I might as well swap 'em back.
> 
> A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Usual disclaimer. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

Rafael’s eyelids fluttered against the early morning sunlight and Sonny couldn’t help but smile as he leaned down to kiss him lightly. “Morning,” he said. **  
**

Rafael cracked one eye open, his lips curving into a reluctant smile. “Is it morning already?” he asked, his voice still deep from sleep.

“I brought you coffee,” Sonny told him, and he opened both eyes to squint suspiciously at him.

“You must want something.”

Sonny tried to scowl at him, but he couldn’t quite hide his smile. “Now, why in the world would you think that?” he asked innocently as Rafael sat up before Sonny handed him the steaming mug of coffee.

Rafael didn’t dignify the question with anything more than a look, taking a sip of coffee before asking, “So, what do you want?”

“Well,” Sonny hedged, “seeing as how it’s one of our rare joint days off, and seeing as how it’s December, I was thinking we could do something festive.”

“Festive,” Rafael repeated dryly. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this?”

Sonny ignored him. “I was thinking we could go ice skating,” he said brightly.

Rafael blinked. “You can’t be serious,” he said mildly.

“Why not?” Sonny asked.

“Because humanity invented these incredible things called bridges that allow us to cross frozen bodies of water without strapping blades to our feet and sliding across."

Sonny arched an eyebrow at him. “And humanity invented these incredible things called cars to get us up and down mountains, and yet you still insist on strapping strips of wood to your feet and sliding down.”

“Touché,” Rafael said with a chuckle. “Speaking of, Rita’s invited us to Aspen.”

“Oh no, you don’t get to change the subject,” Sonny told him, stealing back the mug of coffee. “I wanna go ice skating today.”

Rafael's eyes narrowed as Sonny took a hefty swig of his coffee. “Do I actually have a choice in this?” he sighed, and Sonny hid his smile with another sip of coffee, knowing full well that he’d already won.

“You always have a choice,” he told him, as seriously as he was able. “Affirmative consent and all that.” He paused and lifted the mug of coffee to his lips, smirking as Rafael's eyes tracked the motion. “But if you want more coffee — not so much, no.”

Rafael groaned and rolled his eyes, but a small smile was threatening to emerge at the corners of his mouth. “You drive a hard bargain,” he said, and Sonny let him grab the coffee mug back from him.

“What can I say,” he said, leaning in to brush a kiss over Rafael's cheek, “I learned from the best.”

Rafael's expression softened. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” he warned, even as he leaned in to capture Sonny's lips with his own.

Sonny kissed him back for a long moment before asking innocently, “Who said anything about flattery? I was talking about Rita.”

Rafael glared at him and Sonny decided it was time for a hasty escape from the bedroom before Rafael could push him off the bed or change his mind about ice skating. “Get dressed,” he called over his shoulder. “I want to be ready to leave in half an hour.”

Sonny took Rafael's coffee with him.

Just as some extra motivation.

* * *

 

Exactly thirty minutes later, Rafael was shrugging on his coat and glaring daggers at Sonny, who was pretending to ignore him. “Keep that up and I’ll conveniently forget to bring a travel mug with coffee for you,” he said casually.

Rafael’s scowl deepened. “You know, you could always go ice skating by yourself,” he said pointedly, and Sonny just gave him a look. “I just mean, it doesn’t _have_ to be a couple’s activity.”

“But then who’ll hold my hand and make sure that I don’t fall down?” Sonny asked, giving him his best puppy-dog eyes, knowing full well that Rafael was incapable of saying no to them.

Sure enough, he sighed and rolled his eyes even as he buttoned his coat. “I sincerely hope you aren’t expecting me to keep you from falling down,” he grumbled. “I’m going to have a hard enough time making sure _I_ don’t fall down.” He shot Sonny a baleful look. “You do realize I couldn’t actually tell you the last time I went ice skating, right?”

“That’s half the fun,” Sonny assured him, and his eyes narrowed.

“Ah, yes, I forgot how much enjoyment you get out of humiliating me.”

Sonny smiled sweetly at him. “As if you don’t do a good enough job of that all on your own.”

Rafael looked downright murderous. “Excuse me?” he spluttered. “Name _one_ time I have humiliated myself recently.”

Rolling his eyes, Sonny grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the door. “It’s a long list,” he told Rafael cheerfully, handing over the mug of coffee so that he could lock the apartment door behind him. “Figured we may as well walk while I go through the entire list.”

It was Rafael’s turn to roll his eyes, so hard that it almost looked painful, but Sonny knew him well enough to know he was physically incapable of sulking while drinking coffee, especially the way Sonny made it for him, with just a little bit of extra cream. In fact, by the time they had walked the few blocks from Rafael’s Upper East Side apartment to Central Park, Rafael's previous dour mood had almost entirely lifted (especially since Sonny had chosen not to actually list the many examples of Rafael making a fool of himself. He were capable of reading his audience, no matter what Rafael might think).

But by the time they got to the ice rink, Rafael’s scowl had returned, accompanied by a particular sour, “ _Tourists_ ,” muttered under his breath like a dirty word.

“You’re a snob,” Sonny informed him as they got in line at the skate rental.

“Normally you like that about me,” Rafael said as he pulled out his wallet to pay for the skates.

Sonny gave him a look. “Normally I _tolerate_ that about you.” He leaned in and kissed his cheek. “C’mon, Raf. It’s Christmas. Even you can afford to cheer up for the holidays.”

Rafael rolled his eyes, but Sonny knew him well enough to be able to see the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth, even if he tried to hide it with an exaggerated sigh and a huffed, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Sonny was the first to finish lacing his skates and so he took a few teetering steps over to the rink, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding when he didn’t instantly topple over. He took a few tentative glides before turning and making his way back to the boards so that he could lean on them and goad Rafael. “Come on,” he teased. “You’re the only person I know who can take fifteen minutes to lace up your ice skates.”

Rafael glared up at him. “You’re on thin ice,” he warned, before pausing. “Pun unintended.”

“ _Sure_ it was,” Sonny laughed, holding out his hand as Rafael carefully got to his feet. He reached out to take Sonny's hand and almost fell before he even made it on to the ice. “Careful!”

Rafael's glare deepened. “I’m fine,” he snapped, pulling his hand back and stumbling onto the ice. He managed to stand upright for all of five seconds before one skate went one way, the other went another way, and Rafael fell down somewhere in the middle.

“Ow,” he said, from where he was lying on the ice.

Sonny stifled his initial reaction of laughter to skate over to him. “Are you ok?” he asked, trying to sound genuinely concerned.

Rafael glared up at him. “I _told_ you this was a bad idea.”

Sonny rolled his eyes and leaned down to help him up. “C'mon,” he said encouragingly. “Everyone falls down their first try. Besides, you can only get better, right?” Rafael looked thoroughly skeptical at that, so he sighed and amended, “At the very least, you can’t get much worse.”

But apparently, he could.

By the time they both made it one lap around the rink, Rafael had fallen over at least a half dozen times, twice pulling Sonny down with him. And while Sonny was enjoying himself despite the bruise he could feel forming on his knee from the second time he’d gone down, Rafael’s scowl had settled into permanence.

“Do you just want to go?” Sonny asked, glancing over at him.

Rafael looked back at him, surprised. “No,” he said, stubbornly. “You wanted to ice skate so we’re ice skating.” Almost as soon as he said it, he slipped and almost fell again. “Not very well, but…”

Sonny laughed lightly and shook his head, squeezing Rafael's hand. “And you’re not having fun,” he pointed out.

“I’m with you,” Rafael said. “I always have fun with you.”

Sonny bit back his automatic jokes about Rafael's age catching up with him and how sore he was already going to be, instead taking his words for the rare bit of sweetness that they were. “I love you,” he said, leaning in to kiss Rafael lightly. “I love you for agreeing to this, even though you didn’t want to.” Rafael almost fell again but Sonny held onto him, keeping him upright. “And I love you enough to not keep torturing you, as endlessly amusing as it may be.”

Rafael laughed, but he sounded relieved as he said wryly, “Your pity is always appreciated.”

Hand in hand, they skated to the edge of the rink and changed out of their skates. Rafael sighed in relief when his feet were firmly planted back on solid ground, and Sonny couldn’t quite hold back his laugh, even as he wrapped an arm around Rafael's waist and pulled him in to kiss him. “I’d ask if that was really as bad as you thought it would be, but—”

“It was worse,” he finished, though he was smiling, just slightly. “Let’s just go home, where there are no tourists and no ice and plenty of alcohol to warm us both up.”

Sonny leaned in closer, his lips ghosting over Rafael's ear as he said, voice low, “I can think of an even better way we can warm up.”

Rafael's eyes darkened at the thought, and he grabbed Sonny's hand and practically dragged him in the direction of their apartment, as Sonny laughed all the while. Eventually they both slowed, walking more leisurely, even with the promise of what awaited them at home hanging between them.

Rafael shivered, his grip on Sonny's hand tightening, and Sonny shot him a glance. “Problem?”

“My hand’s cold,” he complained, and Sonny rolled his eyes.

“You big baby,” he scoffed, even as he took Rafael's hand between both of his and rubbed it to warm it up.

Rather than take offense, Rafael looked at him with a soft look on his face. “I love you,” he said.

Sonny smiled at him, the little rush he felt every time Rafael said it making his heart do flip-flops in your chest. “I know,” he said lightly. “Enough to go ice skating with me, even.”

“Enough to go ice skating with you exactly once,” Rafael corrected.

“Such a romantic,” Sonny teased.

“Don’t press your luck,” Rafael said. “You’re already—”

He broke off, and Sonny laughed at the look on his face. “On thin ice,” he supplied for him, grinning at the second inadvertent use of the pun.

“Well,” Rafael sighed, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “You said it, not me.”


End file.
